“Just Do It“. Three words we live by to navigate the enormous speed of change around us in our lives as well as our businesses. At one time, entertainment was unimaginable without television. But now customers are increasingly cutting the cord with the cable television network and moving towards video-on-demand entertainment or OTT. Although you may want to ‘just do it’ and launch your business’s OTT service, the question is always – how?
If you set aside the fancy jargon and the complexities of technology, any OTT system can be pared down to 4 essentials. There are – the foundation of strong content, quick and effective distribution of this content, monetisation strategy of the content and finally, revenue through various models. In this article, we will try to solve the business challenge of how to ace these without losing too much time and too much money.
Build a Solid Foundation with Content
Your content is what will attract your subscriptions. Plan your content by answering the Who, What and When.
- WHO is your target audience?
- WHAT content niche are you selecting to serve that audience?
- WHEN do you want to serve your content across time and on which devices?
The simplest way forward for you is to take the help of a tool that allows you to manage your content, its structure, scheduling, etc. and publish across devices simultaneously.
Launch Quick and Across Platforms
A white labelled app allows you to start reaching your customers within days without having to build and test technology for years. You can launch across multiple platforms simultaneously and also don’t need to worry when new platforms enter the industry because they will be automatically integrated for you.
However, that does not mean that you have to compromise on your user experience. The best SaaS partners not only provide these white labelled apps but also allow customisations without any technical dependency so that your app looks uniquely yours.
Monetize to Earn
An important piece of the OTT puzzle is the monetisation strategy. Monetisation usually involves either one or multiple combinations of the following:
- Ad-supported-video-on demand (AVOD): Keeping your content free and earning through advertisements. This strategy is most commonly used on YouTube (the major difference being that you decide if users can fast forward or skip your ads!)
- Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD): Allowing only paid subscribers to access your content. The best example of this strategy is Netflix
- Or , finally, a hybrid approach. Hulu uses a combination of these strategies for its different packages
As your business grows with an engaged subscriber base, you will get to learn and modify your monetisation strategy. An effective SaaS partner will allow you to use your billing data to understand payment patterns, willingness to pay, churn and other such metrics. These metrics will help you shape and reshape your strategy to optimize your revenues.
Advertise and Grow
Once your subscribers start consuming your content, you will have tons of opportunities for ad placements and earning from those advertisements. A strong OTT provider can help you be flexible with your advertising needs — promote a new content series, get more visibility for your sponsors, drive pay-per-view sales, etc. you name it!
And Marketing is not just restricted to the usual social media channels anymore. Multiple marketing channels can be run effectively if you have a good tool on your hand. Your marketing tool should enable you to run campaigns across not just social media but also channels like email marketing, WhatsApp marketing, SMS and push notifications in one concerted effort. An OTT SaaS partner can help you reach marketing automation nirvana with the flick of a switch!
That’s it! And off you are at this stage running with your OTT service! No, actually the real journey will be fraught with challenges and hurdles and things you don’t know or don’t want to deal with. Just as it is with running, having a partner can ensure you reach your goals without getting lost on the way. In this case, a good SaaS partner who has the tools and expertise on each of these essential components will give you the strong footing necessary to join the OTT race.
If you are a business considering launching your own OTT business or someone who is looking for a SaaS partner, we would love to have a longer (no-obligations!) chat with you. Let’s connect?
